“Viktor Bychkov, general director of BC Khimki, said the club will not renew the agreement with their American small forward Austin Daye. The 23-year-old player of the NBA’s Detroit Pistons had signed a two-month contract, which now expired. ‘The club will not renew the agreement with Austin Daye. The position of our club is to consider seriously players from the NBA, if we are sure the player can sign a contract until the end of the season, not until the end of the lockout,’ Bychkov said as quoted by RIA Novosti.”

Daye had apparently not made a big impact on the court (while both Timofey Mozgov and Chris Quinn have). The attitude of teams wanting guys who aren’t going to leave is something we expect to see from more teams — they want guys who are in for the big games upcoming, not living to leave.

If you read just one thing today, click the link and read the profile of Adam Morrison by Sam Amick at Sports Illustrated.

Morrison has been an NBA punch line for years now, the guy who couldn’t live up to the hype in Charlotte, who won two rings with the Lakers while wearing a suit, the guy cut from the Wizards. Adam Morrison became synonymous with bust for a lot of NBA fans.

But as always, the personal story is a lot more complex. It’s more compelling. Morrison opens up to Amick about the dark days without confidence, about walking away from the game and living on his ranch for a year just to escape. He talks about slowly rediscovering his love of the game.

He has started to turn it around playing in Serbia, and what those around him talk to Amick about is that the swagger that is back in Morrison’s game. It’s not just the 17 points per game, it’s the fire that has returned. Last month we showed you the video of Morrison getting ejected from a game — that made the people around him smile. That is the Morrison they know.

Morrison said his time in Serbia has been redemptive.

“It was such an adrenaline rush and an emotional high to be out there on the court again,” Morrison said. “Everybody who has done something in their life that they’ve had a passion for or done for a long time, and then all of a sudden it’s not there anymore, and then it comes back to you in such a rush [can relate].’

“I would’ve run through a brick wall that night for anything. Goose bumps. Sweating. That whole day, I’ve never been so focused. It was a friendly game, and I was thinking, ‘All right, I’m going nuts tonight. I don’t care what happens. I was ready to fight, to do anything, just to play.”

Do yourself a favor, click the link and read the whole story. You might even start rooting for Morrison.

That sound you just heard was the collective exhale of Chicago Bulls fans. And Tom Thibodeau.

That’s because over the weekend Derrick Rose, the star and building block of the Chicago Bulls, said he has no plans of going overseas. Here is the quote from the Houston Chronicle, where Rose was over the weekend for a charity game.

“I’m not going anywhere, I’m good,” Rose said. “I’m just trying to stay in a nice place where you never know what will happen, or what can happen, what will happen. Now, I’m trying to keep myself in nice shape, and stay positive. Hopefully, we’ll have a season.”

After what happened to J.R. Smith, a lot of top NBA players have to hesitate when thinking about playing overseas. It’s one thing for a role player who has a limited window to make his money, but for a star like Rose who has a long and lucrative NBA career ahead of him, the risks of heading overseas might be too great.

• Turkish club Besiktas has been looking for a big to pair with Deron Williams and set their sights high (Dwight Howard, LaMarcus Aldridge) but seems to have come back to Marcin Gortat. Who is still a good fit, but not quite the athlete the other two are.

• Patrick Mills has left playing for Melbourne in his native Australia to sign with the Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers in China. The answer to you next question is money. If the NBA lockout ends and there is a season Mills will be one of the free agent guards available in March when the Chinese season ends, but he likely will not be in the NBA before that.

Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo and Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins, close friends, have been discussing the possibility of playing together overseas, and have had representatives inquiring on the possibilities, sources said.

Rondo and Perkins are interested in playing in higher-paying countries, such as Italy, Spain and Russia, sources said. There’s no deal in the works, and it’s unclear if there’s even a team that could financially put together the kind of contracts it would take to lure the players.

Aren’t we all interested in playing in higher paying countries?

That said, there are limited spots on European rosters right now, teams have to work to squeeze in one guy, let alone a pair of them. Meaning I wouldn’t bet on seeing this. But stranger things have happened, like the players and owners almost killing the season.